Why You Need to Keep WordPress up to date

Everyone knows it’s important to keep their WordPress site updated, but many skip the task. Why? It does take time and sometimes it doesn’t always go smoothly, especially if a theme or plugin isn’t compatible. Plus, if something works, why change it?

Hackers rely on this line of thinking to exploit your site’s vulnerabilities. WordPress updates don’t just add new features. They also fix security flaws to help keep your site safer. We know it might not be the most enjoyable task, but you have to keep WordPress up to date or hackers may see your site as their next target.

Ruin your site’s reputation

We’ll start with one of the less obvious side effects of not keeping your WordPress site updated. Many hackers don’t attack a site to steal data from the site itself. Instead, they install malware which attacks visitors to your site. When Google detects infections, the site may be blacklisted. As many as 10,000 sites are blacklisted daily for this reason alone. Of course, anyone who encountered malware isn’t going to return and may tell others to steer clear of your site.

Hackers love all sites

A common excuse for not updating is hackers won’t bother with smaller sites. This simply isn’t true. Whether you get millions of visitors a day or only a few hundred, your site is at risk. Hackers use smaller sites to spread malware, perform phishing scams or just use the extra resources. WordPress vulnerabilities don’t just affect large sites. They affect every single WordPress site that isn’t updated.

Updates protect your WordPress website

Over 70% of popular WordPress versions are vulnerable. Many sites are several releases or more behind the current version. Many updates are designed to fix security holes to keep your site safer. WordPress provides detailed information on every release so you can understand the importance of updates.

Get the latest features

If security isn’t enough to convince you that you should keep WordPress up to date, additional features are a massive benefit. For instance, WordPress 4.5 introduces improved editing and formatting features, performance enhancements and even a live responsive preview. The latest themes often require the latest version of WordPress in order to take advantage of new features. Without updating, you could be missing out on a better experience.

Keeps other elements updated

Outdated themes and plugins are also major security risks. The good thing about keeping WordPress updated is those outdated plugins and themes may no longer be compatible. While you might think this is a bad thing, it’s not. Do you really want to have to spend days trying to get your site back online simply because you kept an old version of WordPress to keep using an insecure plugin?

While updating WordPress won’t fix all your plugin and theme security issues, it will prevent some. After all, extra security is never a bad thing.

Time is money

Until your site is compromised, you see not updating as a time saver. The problem is all that time and money you save quickly turns into a nightmare if your site is hacked. We provide a calculator to help estimate how much time and money it’ll take to rebuild your site if the worst does happen. Trust us, you won’t like the numbers. The minimal time it takes to keep WordPress up to date is better than the long hours you’ll spend on rebuilding your site after a hack.

Stay updated for a better site

The best WordPress site is one that is safe and secure for its visitors. While you can’t 100% secure a site, you can get it close by keeping WordPress and all other software updated. Add in some security software and plugins and you have a site that will make hackers want to pass you by.

No time for updates, backups and other necessary WordPress tasks? Try our CloudPress service today and we’ll handle all the updates for you.